Bar math is fun, and the Green Mill football pitcher beer special wins the contest, as per this analysis.
And we didn’t even need overtime, just the leeway of stretching out the metaphor and making you wait until a few paragraphs down.
But unless done during the week itself, can be “taxing,” so don’t wait until the weekend to assess your financial means, or even credit card limit(s). Post-Christmas shopping season for paying bills has arrived. So here’s a (precise and detailed) local breakdown of pro-football-special big beer in pitchers vs. buckets of bottles, and how to get the best bang for your buck. —– All this might save you enough so you can tip really well! And on and off, as an often 50-center, I’ve been schooled on such by fave servers. Like the other night, at a fave place to keep happy …
It’s Game Day in the beer and brat (and Milwaukee Burger) and Badger State, broadly speaking. But these are the pros we’re talking now, and you want to drink like a pro … Then thusly have enough money leftover, after you’ve paid your sports bar tab — and you know you’ll have one — to contribute in a meager way to salary cap considerations?!?

To that end, there’s been that 48-ounce Coors Light pitcher you can get at Green Mill, in Hudson and westwardly, during most pro football games for $8.99. But just how does that stack up against the infinite number of places offering their bucket-of-beer-bottles special? (It may depend on what brew brand you desire, and they usually are a few of the main domestics, that come at differing prices, though usually only a slight variation, and you may be able to pair it and make it a combo, like that pool you may be shooting during halftime. Usually these are 12-ounce bottles, not the cans that can ramp it up to 16 ounces — or taps that often go up to 20 ounces. And you may or may not have to factor in tax. That’s a couple of paid ounces right there. And the pitcher is only a single tip …) But the server is at your table and this is a football Sunday, so she’s busy and you don’t want to make her wait in the wings, as she has plenty of them to serve, while you micro-calculate the best deal, and so get better service the next Sunday or other Game Day you are in, and you know you will do that at a favorite haunt or maybe two. So we at HudsonWiNightlife just did the math for you!

So here is a breakdown, and I must say I was a little surprised: If you go for the usual five bottles — possibly six once in a great while — and this may or may not be the Hotel California-ish “pink champagne on ice,” you are looking at a base rate of between $14 and maybe $20, and most prices are in the middle. Thus the best deal, all things considered, is this, measured by ounce and/or bottle: The Green Mill special comes in at, give or take a penny or two, 18 cents per ounce or $2.25 a bottle, as the best price. That number, and not on a jersey, of a $14 bucket at low-end sports bars, weighs in at about $2.80 a bottle, and if upwards, that being $18, you are looking at around $3.60 per bottle.

A secondary consideration, and this can be viewed more than one way, is that the Green Mill-type pitcher special equates to four bottles of beer. If you get the second pitcher, that amps it up to eight. You even if tipping a few can do the math: Five versus eight versus 10 bottles or its equivalent — that’s if you go with a second bucket round. So during pregame before you hit the sports bar, assess ahead what your party’s need happens to be. Don’t rely on reassessing at halftime. I have been told by favorite servers that people can lose track while in the moment, especially if it’s a great and close game — thus can you say overtime? — and drop a hundred or two on Any Given Sunday. So really, plan ahead and avoid looking at the void in your wallet come Monday morning. Or when drunk-dialing earlier in the a.m. So you can borrow money to get through Tuesday into Friday, (but wait, I only get paid every other week!)

The pandemic is now (officially) at an end. So this is the end of my coverage on it. Or is it?

So here are some Easter eggs (Old School music term) that have remained in the vault, until now:

– What is the ultimate job where social distancing could be a bitch. If you are a stripper and you are trying to get a bit too close without anyone really knowing or telling. Word had it that the Covid rate among patrons in the profession (can I call it that?) was at about 17 percent and thus higher than the norm  (just kidding). And I won’t even invoke dentistry, which was curtailed, even moreso, for a time.

– With that said, and the idea of tracking where you have been and if you could have spread the virus, do you you really want the whole world to know everywhere you’ve (frequented) for even sat the last week?

– An old but bad joke from back in the start of the virus and its vanquished, when there were worn masks all over various parking lots from people who had ditched them when the day and its infectious turf changed. Hey, do you need a mask to go into the store? I have one you could borrow.

– At my beloved Kwik Trip convenience store, as I had been told my a military man in the family to always look down when you walk, as through a potential mine field, and I began noticing there was often a quarter or two on the ground right there in front of you. But would they still be there when you got the latest special in a quick trip in, when you got back into the lot to get to your car. Maybe, or not? Depending on the vast financial need brought on by Covid that changed again, by the day, a quarter might stay on the ground at length, but a mere penny snapped up just like that.

– Yes, you might have a kid at home who needs to be schooled there by virtue of the computer. But what if you are not savvy, as a parent, at that type of thing? At WalMart, I saw a new stay-at-home mom of just the wrong era who simply didn’t know all the ins and outs of a still new Internet to get her young daughter off on the right track to do her homework. Case closed for it.

– A friend of mine would bring home extra masks from work for the germ-a-phobe home. Public health duty , you know. He claims this approach was sanctioned by management. With the bosses I have known, I doubt it.

– Lastly, a store had noted time and again, on their door, that they were adhering strictly to the new and newer guidelines brought about by Gov. Evers. Ever’s changing. And Evenflow.

OK, there will still be more of such coming, but I’ll keep it more topical and timely. I don’t call this Blasts From The Past for no good reason.

I am at it again, this time Easter in River Falls. Read on for the gist of my Wednesday visit, completing the trinity of them so to speak as this holiday beckons, to be made to the community food pantry there, with some care packages and an invite to see below for recipes on how to use such things — and save a lot of dough, and not just chicken scratchings.

Here is what I distributed to patrons at a free Christmas Day dinner in New Richmond, at the Methodist Church, to their busy staff during their “noon hour.” I did something similar over Thanksgiving, via an “open house” done at my place to display recipes that were pumped via the Five Loaves food pantry. Five Stars to them, all of them. And I have a couple of great posts for later, one touting the greetings at my door by a nice young lady with a bottle of wine in her hand (apple cider, actually) …

Feel free to blip over the bloated (but not poached) press release on the tips that’s included, and go straight to the main course, as may also be seen elsewhere on this website but is intended for publication in the Blasts From The Past department. See ya there!

Hello: I am a freelance writer who is new to the area and one of the things I cover on my website on music in the region is how to get the most out of your leftovers, with tips like logical substitutions for recipe ingredients. I have my food waste down to basically zero, and help others do the same with ideas like how to make virtually any sauce from what’s already in your fridge.
I have dumped some of these type of stories into one of my website departments, Blasts From The Past, reprints of some of the more popular posts from this fall and winter. I will likely add a Christmas dinner version, new content, later today, that being Christmas Day.
The website has gotten high readership all over the world because of its prose, and I will soon in the new year do a computer upgrade that will allow people to subscribe to a secondary website and get exclusives, and as they say, the rest of the story. Part of that will a few more specific departments added, one of them on such food ideas. It will provide a grouping of all the tips of I supplied during my several year run with the site.
Because of my maximizing of food-ingredient usage, and the fact I have to try these out myself first, I always have extras on my shelves. I will dish out these, and well as the suggestions, if people have a need for a donation from me. Or want a tip on how to use a specific food item. Maybe they have a great story idea or just want to talk about music. Or even play in a band as I do sometimes. If nothing else, great fodder for my site. So I will list my contact information, which you could give out to people if applicable.

Blogger Joe Winter
joewint52@gmail.com
(715) 821-9630

Merry Christmas
And Easter too
Hope I helped with that
in some very small way

If you are like me, there is sentimental value in serving up a great big bird at Thanksgiving and/or Xmas, and there’s nothing wrong with that.
But this year, since a big old turkey may not be an option, since as I’ve written, a news report said one in five families will not be able to afford such a (once viewed as a staple) fine-feathered symbol of the holiday.
Now I’ll give you an entire, if somewhat disjointed accounting because there still are so many options, to make your holiday whole. So I will bring in chicken and nachos to save the day(s) and the bank account. Fowl is more budget friendly than beef, so we won’t go there.

But with turkey, and when a need exists to go up to the per-ounce limit that’s already dictated by your budget, there are to-fit options that can be supplemented by smaller packets, such as a couple of ounces for 80 cents a shot at my WalMart. You can get whatever you need and not more, down literally to a nickel, a place it on the platter wherever there is a gap.
Are you and yours among the multitudes who have way too much left over after the holiday, then have to decide how many turkey sandwiches is your tolerance before it goes bad, and turkey is not that forgiving, or does it become one of the myriad things that sit in the freezer and accumulate with other now frozen foods. So get a really small bird, and if you need to supplement, have Buddig slices or the like fill any gap for your guests. It can even be changed up by being skewered with any number of olive varieties, other meats and cheeses and assorted pickles. And some BBQ sauce? And what about a whole and still cheaper packet of turkey legs as a stop-gap? And if a few less guests show up, there is more for you and your family later, since these would not have to been opened. (And maybe stow a bit of the croutons as unstuffed for eventual, sprinkling on a salad). And set around that bird, such as it is, dress it up as far as appearance with a garnish of boiled, and maybe seasoned carrots, potatoes and onions, or even parsnips, (usually available for 49 cents a pound at your local Kwik Trip). And for a bedding, iceberg lettuce leaves, or romaine if you have any money left over. Rice anyone?
As far as pickles, you can get a huge jar under the institutional heading for five dollars or less, so make a small care package/jars in advance and send it home as a care package for your guests. And if you are all comfortable with this and you have to do whatever you can these days, have guests make a list of leftovers that might be useful for them before they arrive. Might put such a disclaimer in your RSVP.
Getting it going.
Thus turkey, with the accompanying use of chicken I’ll now describe, becomes a turnkey on your table:

So if your family loves meaty drumsticks — this way you can have more of those by placing them around the circle, under the edge of the bird. You might position their nuggets that are the meat heads facing out, positioning the pieces about one an inch. Or gang up on it by teaming up their placement all around the thighs (see later in the post).
Still in the name of making ends meet, and style also, you can also find fruit by simply placing the leg’s ends together, or apart, or sideways.

But as you go, largely on the fly, take care to write down your seasonings and their amount while going at it this season, to reproduce it in other seasons. This way you will not need to reinvent the wheel the next time around.
It all starts on Thanksgiving Eve, and nachos will be your niche, one of the one or two best-attended tavern times each year, and there’s more to do than just basting a turkey. (A beer for each baste?)
To the contrary. And you have to and/or forgo the beef, or use it with other recipes or freeze, but even refried beans can be used come tomorrow to supplement a side dish. For during the nightly happy hour, time it right and maybe not on a weekend, especially, that nachos poundage that could also do double-duty and triple-duty in your kitchen.
Come then, these could be added to make-or-break an appetizer or pre-game snack, ratchet up entrees, or enhance parts of that 15 or 20 pound turkey, or as we talk, let you scale back to a ten pounder,
It’s best to resist the idea to make the nachos too forefront, as they’ve been in the fridge overnight waiting to be warmed — especially when it comes to your veggies, so just small-splice on a few tads — and you did remember to put the leftovers, with needs as varying as those of certain picky guests, stored away did you not? Rather, the focus could just be on a ten-pound tom turkey. That becomes the point.
This is how you work it.
And you do need to flow, on this as a crazy set of work days, if only for the rushed chef and part-timer cooks. Don’t get too crazy! Or …
At Agave Kitchen in Hudson, they truly bring the nachos to bear. Or other animal can serve the purpose, for that matter. But the heaping plateful you get, like in so many places, can even exceed the height of a chicken-leg-bone, (more on that option later), but with a lot more meat than bone, and both meats, to different degrees, win in that dollar-saving category. From what I’ve seen Agave is the measuring stick for all things nacho, although many others compete, most of them venues that are more grill than bar, and bring savings but can be up to moderately priced.
That prior night, to Thanksgiving, always proves big in bars, so here’s how you win the scenario. Before the feast fest the next day, put a few friends together — deer hunters widows take heed — scarf down but leave a little in the yummy for the pumpkin and pecan pie, or one piece of each if your left room by avoiding (and I liquidize here) that extra side of thick-or-not salsa.
The leftovers will still rock by the next day or so, except maybe for that turkey, as it might be hard or really dry come time for the big game to come on — and isn’t that the (relatively real) reason we gather on this day, and when we can fit in time to bolt to the table. Unless overtime. But maybe not at eateries, depending on how they treat holidays with staffing.
So when you can, take it to the Nachos Farm, a big part of the Agave and the folklore displayed on their sign and front door. And also weigh in their chicken tacos offered all month.

– We can’t speak for the veracity, however, of what Agave in particular is practicing during these time periods. They are just being used as an example of what can be out there as the holiday takes shape. –

Nachos eaten in and then out, with chicken if you can divine it out on Wednesday and then into Thursday, or Friday, are part of the game, starting the night before. Both meats can later be used in casseroles, enchiladas and lasagna, and/or slice and dice them and add them in from the prior night, working it in the kitchen right before kickoff. And those are only the ones touted on a single online source.
But as you go, largely on the fly on this barrage of days, take care to write down your seasonings and their amount while going at it this season, to reproduce it in other seasons. This way you will not need to reinvent the wheel the next time around.

So to recap, and trying not to waddle: All starts on Thanksgiving Eve, one of the one or two best-attended tavern times each year, and there’s more to do than just basting a turkey. (A beer for each baste?) For those nacho ounces and even pounds could give a hand and have your meal’s popularity rival even football, hey Packers more than the now popular Vikings.
It’s best to resist the idea to make the nachos too forefront, as they’ve been in the fridge overnight waiting to be warmed — especially when it comes to your veggies, so just small-splice on a few tads — and you did remember to put the leftovers, with needs as varying as those of certain picky guests, stored away did you not? Rather, the focus could just be on a ten-pound young tom turkey. That becomes the point.
Tips for nacho hunters:
First, make sure the venue where you got the nachos is open to the idea of leftovers for carryout, as with their happy hours there may even be two-for-ones, or half priced appetizers. Of course this is done as an eat-in cost-leader to bring people, but don’t take too much advantage. This is not a buffet line, granted, but you might be in better luck if the server is someone you know, and could tip, to let it slide. But no pressure.
Hey, you can make a heyday if you work with it — repetition alert on behalf of my server friends as this can be severe — on this a work day if only for the rushed chef and part-timer cooks, as if they are even open they are probably short-staffed. So as servers are hustling too, don’t get too crazy with the amount left on the big plate, and asked to be stowed for an overnight! Or …

To boast cool holiday decore well beforehand, there’s this funky little thing called design. It can be done with pumpkins and squash, making your place full of visual cheer, in the style of the latest occasions. They should be on sale now at the local grocery store, but unless they offer the old gold, standard special of spend a ten-spot, get ten, you might not this holiday be able to afford one for every prominent window in your place, much less a second. So … get them up a week or two before each of the holidays, then after half that time passes, rearrangement them to be in each place they were not the previous week. In would say save the best for last as far as which window first, but it might be just as beneficial to start early and get a good vibe going. switch its colors and shapes, and squash has a bounty — and even sizes around in the house.
And, if these slightly fruity and full items do not meet their end before the holidays end, there can be made pies and such as we near December. But until then …

There are so many more bird-beckoning uses, especially those incorporating chicken, as it is used even when taking a bow to the traditional.
Chicken legs are much cheaper than the rest of the bird, especially the breasts, but there is more waste.
However, making soup on Friday saves the day. Or the broth.
Chicken contains slightly more calories and fats, and less protein. And for strength of (schedule) taste it’s also turkey; so season your chicken well.
Turkey is as much as twice as expensive per pound, since the farmers have more work and time to get turkey to the table.
Chicken has about twice the niacin, although turkey features much more selenium — and more sodium in the case of those deli cuts — and also phosphorus and Vitamin B-6 … so diversify.
Cooking times are much higher and there is more prep time when turkey is the bird. And turkey is juicier, but you have to do it right in the oven, and cuts around thighs have the bigger volume of drips. We talked about that earlier, getting a leg up.
So there you go with my design scenario, two or more ways of putting it onto the platter. Full already with …

This broccoli salad, twice over, could be just the trick for using up almost any leftovers you might have in your refrigerator/freezer, and the adventuresome could even fry up very lightly in a pan this veggie, and maybe add some cauliflower for the green and light-white to get more traditional, that remains behind with various types of breading and zesty Asian sauce — topped with melted cheese of many sorts? — to be a mocktail of bar comfort food. (Use lots of the many types of veggie oil in the pan, and be careful not to over-sear the crowns, is that redundant?) Thus it becomes your own recipe, although not as proprietary as BWW, so you can share it with your friends. The best and cheapest comfort food is a subject that’s on my to-do list to delve into, and it may end up being a bucket list, as there are so many things ahead of it on my Must Publish Soon rankings.
Who among you knew that broccoli could be so bountiful? (We knew it is healthy). Great for vegetarians, and if they skimp on the sauces, their time will not come as soon as when my bucket list is flagged, by myself, as urgent.
So here goes. Another list, this time on broccoli at its best. I told the woman behind the deli counter that I’d try to get around to posting this. She was “B” curious.
I advise starting with two different but closely related deli items at Dick’s Market. Broccoli and bacon salad, and cheesy broccoli pasta. Mix the two, half and half, and you have the start of a party. And add in on your own, any of those makings that you happen to have around your kitchen.
And buy more broccoli, or add what’s in the crisper. And add more in as you go about eating it, filling the gap on the side of the bowl caused by what wound up in your stomach, and bringing back freshness. You can get a broccoli crown for under two bucks a pound when on special at places like Dick’s.
Add in any of the following: Sweet peas or whole pea pods sliced smaller, chopped bell peppers, onions, celery, any white meat or ham, and lesser amounts of (various?) minced hot peppers starting with the standard green, brussels sprouts, spinach, raisins … Some of that pepper juice could be sprinkled on top, and/or be part of a marinade for grilled chicken breast, any form of horseradish and even used as a drizzle that sizzles, sour cream and also mayo if you must. And just a bit of cole slaw dressing and the cabbage greens and purples that make it up. A touch of ranch, but leave it at that amount. It can be served cold (a bit of lettuce as a bed?) although you may want to boil the broccoli until just a bit tender. That goes for small amounts of rice also as an underlay.
One other tip of homespun wisdom: Do you find that its very hard to cut celery into pieces, without the strings of it dragging along behind and not severed? Try using not a knife a good scissors to avoid such residue, just cut slowly so not to wear out the blades. And if the crown is used up, I make use of the upper part of the broccoli stem, just don’t go too far down, but you can cut it short wherever you want, to your taste. The texture is a bit rubbery but hard, so when slicing you might invoke again, your scissors, taking a bit of broccoli in small pieces kitty-corner off the side.

Food tips from an actual Mega Foodie?
Need more multiple Martha sightings? Stewart that is. Few know it, except this intrepid reporter, but a big tucked-away factory that single-handedly constitutes a town of Hudson industrial park, and a key home office of sorts in Stillwater, and not as a very bad joke the prison there, comprise — or at least once did — a hub of her business activities. Not to mention all the times Martha Stewart did extremely popular meet and greets in downtown Hudson, at places such as Knoke’s candies and chocolates and on down to the main drag.
That was more than a decade ago, when the whole shebang came to a head, but for business strategic reasons nobody wants to talk about it. So I’m finally knuckling under and spilling the beans — several different kinds — about the Martha-esque connection, and you can bet she would take some of those beans and make it into a killer casserole. And I thought the apropo time for this report might be Mother’s Day, but now I am revisiting it for Father’s Day, as I didn’t get all my last-minute requests for comment to go anywhere, so here we go. (Martha herself would probably not flow with this lack of timeliness, and would find a way to get the goods out there).
Call it an even dozen years now, that being around the time I hyper-indulgently chased after the story up and down and around concerning the connection with Gartner Studios — a fitting name — for local newspapers, as Martha would be hyper-fastidious about such exactness about the company that handled all kinds of things for her such as shipping, production and maybe even design help. No word as to whether this relationship still exists, as know one will be quoted.
The production facility was in an extending-forever-eastward building found on the stub-road next to the highway project that created an odd intersection between County A and the extension of St. Croix Street, had been the home of Duro Bag, (and as many of Martha’s products as you can fit into it?) This was production central for Martha back in the day — and only a few miles from some of the several stores downtown that offered her samplings.
Think how this could optimize the endeavor that is Girls Night Out, sponsored of course by the Hudson chamber of commerce. And since this activity is held semi-annually, that would be about 24 such outings in the mix that could have gone well beyond tasting truffles and yes, dare we say, slightly more “toxic” treats at downtown taverns. All the while thinking about that Harley that they could get on and ride to the city limits, and then be out of sponsorship range. (And this is a way that HudsonWiNightlife can be a rebel, spelling the chamber name with a lower case “c” when the AP Stylebook bows to authority and says these two should be Capitalized. At least it was listed that way years’ back — did I put the apostrophe in the right place? — in Martha’s heyday).
Anyway, to stop digressing (would I do that?), this is a tale of the chase of the story. Gartner’s production plant, which can be found when exiting the north part of Hudson and doing a double dog-leg that takes you to the town of Hudson’s main industrial park on Schommer Drive, has multiple big buildings and reams of blacktop-covered parking lot, but not a lot of signage for the various production departments. So I ended up knocking on doors, but there were very few workers to be found next to the outer walls of the facilities, which rivaled the size of football fields. Eventually, I did see a small sign for a small office that had a small smattering of stairs leading up to an industrial-looking door with a dearth of windows. On a try that was not the first, with a lack of publicity options like a phone number giving context via the Yellow Pages not helping, I found a lone worker who directed me to their Stillwater-based PR person — who really didn’t want to field any of my questions. End of story.

Charles Woodson, the former Packers standout defender, was in the news by being at one of those see-and-be-seen parties for the Super Bowl, and he also has had a broadcasting role for such games. But little did you know, he has a Hudson connection.
A longtime Hudsonite, James Jones, not to be confused with the former Green Bay receiver by the same name, was the guest of honor at Woodson’s own private vinyard out in California a few years back. It seems they both have a passion for fine wine, (and not the kind you make after being called for pass interference), and Woodson was overtly friendly to Jones and seemed just like a regular guy, at a reception, for his new wine and not for a pass catch. It also helped that Jones is a veteran and Woodson wanted to honor that. The whole shebang got started when Jones’ mother, who still lives in Hudson and knows what her son likes, wrote to Woodson to see if he could be sent a bottle of the newly released stuff for his birthday present, since he also has a passion for his Packers. One thing led to another, and before long the correspondence had Jones boarding a flight for California, where Woodson teamed with those despicable Raiders to finish his career, (I’m guessing it helped that all his business deals originate in the same state). Jones, too, was a Raider, on one of those yesteryear successful hockey teams from Hudson. But moving ahead, mom was invited to the vinyard reception, too, and also gave glowing reviews.
When I first did this story, I was given a bottle of Woodson’s wine, (Jones got several), and it was great. But one remaining thing: I still have a photo of the two of you together, all decked out in suits at the reception, that I would like to give back, but Jones is a common name and I couldn’t locate you in the phone book, so if you read this, could you drop me a line?

History repeats itself, again, and in the latest case all the props are still in place, even though its getting a little chilly for most modeling photo shoots.
With the time ebbing toward midnight, a woman was being photographed on a motorcycle on the front lawn near the curb of a North Hudson trailer park. Luckily, there was a streetlight right overhead, so there was at least some ambient light, although that guy must have been really good with his appeture settings to get anything in focus at all. (The model did have frizzy, ’80s style hair, so maybe it didn’t matter so much).
On the other side of the photographer, there were and still are a storage container and a trailer. At times, there have also been different vehicles parked, such as a snowplow and a truck. Could those have supplied additional fodder, as in new seats on which to pose, if there was a sequel to the photo shoot? Hopefully during daylight?
As it turns out, there was a prequel. Back a decade or two, I did a story on a couple of sisters who moved here from L.A. and were telling just how much slower-paced the lifestyle is here. The accompanying photo was taken, again sitting on a motorcycle, with the two of them posing, and again they are both blondes. The shoot included a mutual friend who was not new to being in front of the camera, as she was pictured in a rather controversial Girls of Wisconsin calendar a couple of years earlier. One of the sisters was wearing jeans and a T-shirt, the other striped snakeskin pants that were the talk of the newspaper’s photo department for a few years running.
Another regular bar patron on that side of town was intruiged by the positioning in front of the big Hudson sign that leads up the dike road, and even more by the comely ladies, and asked if he could snap some photos also. This was turning out to be quite a production. Just need a gaffer (I never have figured out what one of those people do).
Back to the only-need-one-model shoot at the trailer park. As I walked further home, back to the area of Fourth Street North, I was passed by the party bus from Big Guys BBQ Roadhouse. I thought it odd for such a vehicle to be this far afield, away from the main drag. Then, a minute later, a taxi cab came by. I guess this area must be popular as far as partiers go, and people needed ride(s) home. Lastly on this theme, as I neared my house, I saw that the notorious “we will tell you your speed” sign from the local police was stationed along Fourth Street. Would I weigh in at 3 mph, that being with sprite in my step? Nope, didn’t register, as it was late and I’m guessing I needed car lights for the thing to see me. Then I guy came by walking a dog on his leash, but carrying a flashlight. Bet he chimed in at about 5 mph, since the dog was walking fast but keeping the same distance of about 40 feet ahead of his master. Looked like he was not on a leash, but chasing a squirrel. But enough of that.
Then getting back to the photo end of things, this time at the other end of the village, at the Mallalieu Inn, there is a big Budweiser poster (for another image to be composed in much the same way) that also features a long-haired blonde, and also has her positioned on a motorcycle. At least there weren’t two or three dozen of her pictured, as was the case in a business magazine that had that very many individual mug shots to depict the prevalence of “peroxide” blondes in the news anchor industry. Or a similar layout treatment to all the white boys who are Big Ten coaches of a given prominent sport, as the only black is no longer in that position.
Got all that? Quiz at 11. Unless you’re out and about, and you might want to be to avoid any questioning.

With the recent playing of the Sonshine festival in Somerset, which featured dozens of Christian bands performing music of all styles, I thought I’d pull this item out of the vault, (frequented by mascot Eddie).
A spiritually defining moment for me, to be followed by many since, was at of all places a heavy metal concert by the group Iron Maiden, which has become by known by critics for its songs about mythology, history and yes, theology.
What I was not prepared for, when taking in one of their concerts in the mid-1990s that filled a professional basketball arena, was that the audience — dressed in biker gear, leather minskirts and black makeup — would be more interested in that topic then in moshing.
Perhaps I was being prejudiced, but I took a seat that was the highest up at the back of the arena, because I wasn’t real comfortable rubbing elbows with bikers at my assigned seat below. From this vantage point, I could see the entire arena below and its patrons as the concert unfolded.
Near the end of the concert, it was time for what some members of the group call their best work among their hundreds of songs, the lengthy anthem, “Hallowed Be Thy Name.”
The loud guitars were turned down, and the legendary metal singer, Bruce Dickinson, sat down in front of the crowd and sang the introduction in a very intimate way, like a priest giving a homily.
In the song, a man condemned to die at the gallows is ruminating about life and death, and God’s role. Then at the end, the jailer has come for him, and all that can be done is pray. In what has become an iconic rock-concert moment, he sings “Hallowed be thy name. Hallowed by thy name.” The length at which he holds the last note has been praised by critics for years.
What was unexpected is that in this mass of humanity in front of me, all raised hands and joined them together like one would in church during the Lord’s Prayer. The thousands of concert-goers, although dressed in black and not a crew who you might think would get into religion, swayed and jubilantly sang the refrain as one, along with Dickinson.
This experience was perhaps the most spiritual in my life. Perhaps it should not have been unexpected, as in those Old School metal songs, there is almost a preoccupation with religion and theology, and the Biblical imagery is frequent. Although this might sound counter-intuitive, it makes sense because singing about topics such as Christ’s crucifixion and martyrdom gives an opportunity to be spiritual and edgy and graphic, all at the same time. And some of the groups really go have something insightful to say about theology.
In particular, amongst all the philosophizing about life and death in Hallowed Be Thy Name, fans have speculated online that the convict at first questions the apparent absence of God in his sitation, then moves forward to re-embrace his faith.
So, this was perhaps the most noteworthy experience among many I’ve had since, where the band bonds with the crowd and there is a transendence, where a rock concert becomes something deeper, something profoundly spiritual.
I since found out that the singer, Dickinson, has written books about subjects that include theology — a personal interest of his — and is regarded by many to be a scholar, not just a screamer.

They famously sang, “We’ll know for the first time, if we’re evil, or divine…”
Now they indeed have gone to meet their maker.
First, Dio done died, and now Bain is bereaved.
And, of course, there is a Hudson connection to this band. Being a fan, it’s hard to fathom that it took me this long, since January, to become aware that bassist Jimmy Bain had also passed on. And its been a few years since he and others related to the likes of Black Sabbath and Led Zeppelin, believe it or not, played Dibbo’s and songs like Last in Line, along with a heavy metal all-star band.
The ad hoc group formed for a birthday party out in L.A., but the act took off and so they took it on the road. As sometimes used to happen, after a gig in the Twin Cities and on their way to Milwaukee-Chicago, they needed a place to play or practice in-between. Enter Dibbo’s.
A week before the gig, I scored a telephone interview with Vinnie Appice, drummer for Black Sabbath, who helped form this all-star band. To my surprise, Appice was very engaging and even remembered my name when I introduced myself in the flesh after the show, and made a few minutes of conversation. Bain had been flanked off to the left of the stage, near where I’d been standing, and had traded in his earlier punk rock attire for a trenchcoat, ala Jimmy Page.
When Bain died, it was Appice who made the public announcement online on behalf of the band(s).
Dibbo’s had also hosted groups like Great White, Foghat and a personal favorite of the manager, Blue Oyster Cult, (members of which hung out with the staff until the wee hours of the morning), but the only lineup I can recall like that mentioned earlier was put together by Steven Adler, another drummer, this time for Guns ‘N Roses. A relatively new local bartender notes that she once hung out at length with him, as well as with his hair band contemporaries like Tesla and Warrant.

The Lady Luck band, a staple at the Willow River Saloon in Burkhardt, (see this latest Picks of the Week department entry), also has had more on its resume in the last few months, namely sharing the stage with perhaps the Twin Cities hottest tribute band to Ozzy Osbourne, named Diary of a Madman. The band was especially known for its tribute show at Venue 13 last fall, a place that has a connection with the ownership of the Smilin’ Moose in Hudson.
That all brings back memories of another band of Ozzy backers, fronted by Michael Ault and his Aultimate Ozzy show, which graced the former Dibbo’s many times over a several-year period.
The guy was scary/impressive in his dead-on duplication of the so-called Prince of Darkness himself, from the onstage mannerisms to all the tattoos in all the same places as Ozzy, even the beast that’s soccer ball sized that adorns all of his right shoulder. Making this even more surreal was that Ault would not break out of the character of Becoming Ozzy, even on set breaks when mingling with the crowd.
Ault’s finest hour, in my book, was when he sang during one of those occasional in-concert bonding moments that are shared between the audience and the band, when it becomes something deeper, almost spiritual. He started this run of good karma with a perhaps unusual song opportunity, Children of the Grave, which rails against how war effects kids, then jumped into some Black Sabbath songs that are more standards.

Local woman makes good in L.A. with award-winning videos, with Gizmo’s help

Now that Bob Schillinger is back on lead guitar with Full Tilt, a band that often plays at the Willow River Saloon in Burkhardt, including this Friday, Jan. 8, I can recall open mic sessions he helped lead with lavish licks at a different music venue, Dick’s Bar and Grill every Sunday. This was many years before this musical format gained mainstream popularity and prior to some of the players moving their act to other places such as up the street at the former Twisted Grille.
Bob told me that another band with members from those days and around western Wisconsin, Breaking Point, had just formed and was set to play their first gig Up North on Halloween weekend, with a trademark being multiple musicians sharing lead vocals and doing it well.
That resonated with me, also. Not to toot my own horn, (especially since I can’t play an instrument worth a darn,) but the following are some of my fondest memories from singing in an often impromptu fashion at those open mics with Bob and the boys, which included for shorter durations some other talented players, not just Bob, but gave me an appreciation for all their talent and flexibility.
– A soul singer and I did a duet to what became known simply as “Watchtower,” where we individually careened high and low on the vocals, almost to the point of having the difference fly out of control during the Jimi Hendrix standard, only to bring it together at the last moment. (After a while, since I’d sung this standard with them dozens of times, I got a little bored and started doing some funky things with my voice).
– One night between sets, Jason picked his bass and started laying down the track, solo, for Black Sabbath and Fairies Wear Boots. I ran up, grabbed the mic and began singing verses. This was followed by a lead guitarist and drummer following suit and getting up on stage, and it turned into a full-fledged jam. Reminds me of a guy I knew back in that day who trekked to Somerset and OzzFest as part of what he called a “Planet Caravan,” referencing another classic song from that Sabbath album.
– When lead guitarist Geno of Saving Starz first pulled into the house on one of those late nights, he heard Watchtower being sung by “someone just shredding it, and I walked around the corner and it was Joey!” In particular, Geno referenced holding the last note “for what seemed like a minute.”
– Likewise with Hardy of the former Scott Sellner blues band, who started bowing down from the back of the room and saying “I didn’t know a white boy could sing the funk like that.” This black rhythm guitarist should know of what he speaks.
– The overly enthusiastic guys in the house band, particularly JJ on drums who would look my way and nod repeatedly and emphatically, yelled in the first few bars for me to come up midstream and sing a Neal Young song, Rockin’ in the USA. I did my best to recall the words and fill that bill without sounding as ill prepped as many a Bush speech; the president not the rock band.
– I once offered to Bob to rip through Rock ‘n Roll by Led Zeppelin, to which he said, “you know how to do that?” Much better then The Immigrant Song, where I’d always seem to sing the third verse as the second stanza, then forget the middle verse completely.
– The sessions actually got their start at the former Sandbar, where in doing “research” for a newspaper article, I was challenged by bassist Scotty Danger to get on stage myself. I responded in print that I would get up with the guys and do the only song I could think of that we all would know, “Gimme Three Steps.” Alas, with all the ad lib guitar solos, I quickly had used up all my verses and stood around waiting sheepishly for the song to end.
– Later, when the open mic shifted to the former Dibbo’s and took on a harder sound, a guy paid me $5 and a free drink to sing Mother by Danzig. As also was the case with a patron and Judas Priest, where the ante was upped to $20 to do everything from that band on a karaoke play list.
I apologize for making this all sound extravagant, but as Brian Adams once sang, “those were the best days.”

In a connection to past terra cotta concoctions, a sign at Season’s Tavern in North Hudson said for days in October about a burger of the month, “try a Claymaker.” Maybe some of that leftover clay they were trying to hawk could have been used to make terra cotta soldiers, which could conceivably guard the rest of their clay from being absconded with by hungry patrons — if their original Claymaker burger was not enough.

All this rings familiar to me because of a story I wrote several years ago involving a mysterious businessman named Don Trent, who had holed up in his town of Hudson warehouse scores of such lifesize soldiers and their also terra cotta horses and chariots, which he insisted were original from an ancient Chinese dynasty and even had remnants of gold in their makeup.
Hundreds of such soldiers had once guarded a huge underground excavation on the behalf of a long dead Chinese ruler. The ones here were still were in big, packed full of wrap shipping crates, and were being opened carefully as I watched for a four-hour tour that lasted beyond midnight.
Don said he was biding his time until he could secure a site for a tourism-based museum — with the rare blessing of the Chinese government on such matters — to place them. He called me when I was on deadline and offered me an exclusive, if I could come right away, but only if I’d sign a contract requiring no premature publication on my part.
After a few years of no terra cotta commitment from a buyer, I went ahead and spilled the beans, in print, on the caper.